November 10 - December 23, 2005
Brunner offers himself up as a chronicler of the moment, hinting to the collaged fragments of his photographic archive, but always careful not to impinge on the viewer's own encyclopedic memory bank... Reflections, after all, split the difference between microscope and telescope, collasping the zone between focus and withdrawal so that all elements of the composition, whether great or small, crucial or indifferent afterthoughts, become all of a piece... David Hunt
Cynthia Broan Gallery is delighted to announce the first major New York exhibition of paintings by the Norwegian artist Frank Brunner. A contemporary painter who fuses traditional aspects of painting with ideas drawn from recent art history, Frank Brunner continues his exploration of the artificiality of nature and the complexity of imagemaking.
45º is a series of paintings revolving around the composition of watery reflections in New York City’s parks and public spaces including the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, Central Park, the Museum of Modern Art's sculpture garden and the front of the Metropolitan Museum. In this new body of work, the artist has expanded and challenged his style: the surface of the paintings has been worked over and over again, and the perspective transposes the figures in a delicate myriad of layers and angles, revealing the temporality and multidimensionality of our encounters with nature and art, and with ourselves.
Frank Brunner (b.1971) has been living and working in New York since 2000. After completing his degree in painting at the National Academy in Oslo, Norway, he spent a year studying at the Iliya Repin State Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia. He then relocated to the US to study at Yale University, where he graduated with a MFA in 2000. His first solo exhibition was held at the Stenersen Museum, Oslo in 2001. Recent exhibitions include: Sørlandets Kunstmuseum (2005), Samson Projects, Boston (2005), Stiftung Stadtmuseum, Ephraim Palais, Berlin (2004), Høvikodden Kunstsenter (2004), Galleri Haaken, Oslo (2003), Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall, Arendal (2002) and Hauger Vestfold Kunstmuseum (2002). He has been the recipient of several grants and awards.
A solo exhibition of Brunner’s paintings, also entitled 45º, will run concurrently at Galleri Haaken in Oslo, Norway. For further information, go to www.gallerihaaken.com.
A full-color 56 page catalog for 45º with an essay by David Hunt is available.
For further information about the exhibition or the gallery, go to www.cynthiabroan.com or call (212) 760 0809.
For further information about Frank Brunner, go to www.frankbrunner.com.
Image: 45º Brooklyn Botanical Garden (Lars), 2005, oil on canvas, 56 x 86"